Bath or shower enclosure walls

Abstract

A thermoplastic panel for a bath or shower wall, comprising at least one thermoformed thermoplastic layer, wherein the thermoplastic panel comprises a front side and a back side, the front side is configured to be visible and face an interior space, and comprises a tile pattern having a plurality of recessed grout lines surrounding a plurality of raised tile surfaces, the back side comprises a complimentary pattern having a plurality of raised grout lines surrounding a plurality of recessed tile surfaces, and wherein the thermoplastic panel back side raised grout lines comprises two or more protruding parallel surfaces.

1 . A thermoplastic panel for a bath or shower wall, comprising at least one thermoformed thermoplastic layer, wherein
 the thermoplastic panel comprises a front side and a back side,   the thermoplastic panel front side is configured to be visible and face an interior space,   the thermoplastic panel front side comprises a tile pattern having a plurality of recessed grout lines surrounding a plurality of raised tile surfaces,   the thermoplastic panel back side is configured to face away from the interior space, and   the thermoplastic panel back side comprises a complimentary pattern having a plurality of raised grout lines surrounding a plurality of recessed tile surfaces, and   wherein the thermoplastic panel back side raised grout lines comprises two or more protruding parallel surfaces.   
     
     
         2 . The thermoplastic panel according to  claim 1 , wherein the back side raised grout lines comprise two protruding parallel surfaces, wherein each protruding parallel surface is positioned towards an opposing outer edge of the grout lines. 
     
     
         3 . The thermoplastic panel according to  claim 1 , wherein the front side recessed grout lines comprise two or more grooves corresponding to the back side two or more protruding parallel surfaces. 
     
     
         4 . The thermoplastic panel according to  claim 1 , wherein the recessed grout lines comprise a largest depth and an intermediate depth, the largest depth being greater than the intermediate depth. 
     
     
         5 . The thermoplastic panel according to  claim 1 , wherein the recessed grout lines comprise an intermediate surface and two or more groove surfaces. 
     
     
         6 . The thermoplastic panel according to  claim 5 , wherein the intermediate surface, the groove surfaces, and the tile surfaces are substantially parallel planar. 
     
     
         7 . The thermoplastic panel according to  claim 1 , wherein a largest depth of the recessed grout lines is from about 0.5 mm to about 4.0 mm. 
     
     
         8 . The thermoplastic panel according  claim 1 , wherein an intermediate depth of the recessed group lines is from about 0.2 mm to about 3.5 mm. 
     
     
         9 . The thermoplastic panel according to  claim 1 , wherein a width of the recessed grout lines is from about 2.0 mm to about 9.8 mm. 
     
     
         10 . The thermoplastic panel according to  claim 1 , wherein a width of the grooves is from about 0.2 mm to about 3.5 mm 
     
     
         11 . The thermoplastic panel according to  claim 1 , wherein the back side protruding parallel surfaces comprise a rectangular shape, a triangular shape, or an arc shape. 
     
     
         12 . The thermoplastic panel according to  claim 1 , comprising a single thermoformed thermoplastic layer. 
     
     
         13 . The thermoplastic panel according to  claim 1 , comprising two or more thermoformed thermoplastic layers. 
     
     
         14 . The thermoplastic panel according to  claim 1 , prepared via vacuum thermoforming. 
     
     
         15 . The thermoplastic panel according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one thermoformed thermoplastic layer comprises polyvinylchloride, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer, a poly(meth)acrylate, a polystyrene, a polyolefin, a polyamide, or a polyester. 
     
     
         16 . The thermoplastic panel according to  claim 1 , wherein the panel comprises an average thickness of from about 1.7 mm to about 5.0 mm. 
     
     
         17 . A method for preparing a thermoplastic panel according to  claim 1 , the method comprising contacting a back side of a thermoplastic sheet to a mold under vacuum thermoforming conditions,
 wherein the mold comprises a plurality of raised surfaces surrounded by a plurality of recessed surfaces, and wherein the recessed surfaces comprise two or more grooves.   
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 17 , wherein the thermoplastic sheet comprises a single thermoplastic layer. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 17 , wherein the thermoplastic sheet comprises polyvinylchloride, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer, a poly(meth)acrylate, a polystyrene, a polyolefin, a polyamide, or a polyester. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 17 , wherein the thermoplastic sheet comprises an average thickness of from about 1.7 mm to about 5.0 mm.